MY FULL MOON IS SQUARE
Author: Elinor J. Pinczes
Illustrator: Randall Enos
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Number of pages: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (USA) First published in: 2002 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (Elinor J. Pinczes Math Books) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
The moon changes phases, of this, we’re aware; but who ever heard of a full moon that’s square? It appears at the pond on the darkest of nights, when the bright little fireflies turn on their lights. It’s hard to read after dark, and a frog at the local pond is having just that problem. Realizing the frog’s dilemma, a number of bright fireflies offer to help by illuminating the sky above him with both derring-do and a knack for mathematical precision. Through a series of square formations, the flies tirelessly search for the right equation to light the pond on a moonless night. Children will learn with ease from this creative tale about the power of co-operation and simple math. |
“The fireflies figured they'd rather add more, and lined up above him in four rows of four. Their square, based on four, added up to sixteen. "That's the prettiest pattern this frog's ever seen.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Elinor J. Pinczes's ‘My Full Moon is Square’ (2002) is a story about a frog by a pond who tries, but fails, to read a book as the full moon is fading and the night is getting darker. A group of fireflies, who have been wanting to hear the frog reading the story out loud so they can enjoy the story too, decide to step in to help the frog. First, four fireflies fly in and hover over the frog in a 2 by 2 formation to provide some light to the frog. Still too dark, more fireflies join in to form a 3 by 3 formation, then 4 by 4 and 5 by 5 formations. When 100 fireflies forming a 10 by 10 formation, the frog gets dizzy as the light is too bright, so the fireflies fly further up in the sky to give the frog just the perfect amount of light, forming what looks like a square full moon. This story provides a great light-hearted context to introduce the concept of square numbers, and hence the concept of exponential growth and the algebraic notation of n squared. The illustrations of the formation of the fireflies provide a fantastic visualisation of this mathematical concept. As far as we are aware, this story is the only story in the market with a focus of such concept. For younger children, the story can be used to consolidate their understanding of multiplication. All in all, we highly recommend ‘My Full Moon is Square’ to teachers and parents of both primary and secondary pupils alike though beware that the number of printed copies of the book in the market is getting smaller by the day, so snap one up soon!
Recommended age range:
9+ years old
Relevant topics:
Multiplication; Powers & Exponential Growth
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
Elinor J. Pinczes's ‘My Full Moon is Square’ (2002) is a story about a frog by a pond who tries, but fails, to read a book as the full moon is fading and the night is getting darker. A group of fireflies, who have been wanting to hear the frog reading the story out loud so they can enjoy the story too, decide to step in to help the frog. First, four fireflies fly in and hover over the frog in a 2 by 2 formation to provide some light to the frog. Still too dark, more fireflies join in to form a 3 by 3 formation, then 4 by 4 and 5 by 5 formations. When 100 fireflies forming a 10 by 10 formation, the frog gets dizzy as the light is too bright, so the fireflies fly further up in the sky to give the frog just the perfect amount of light, forming what looks like a square full moon. This story provides a great light-hearted context to introduce the concept of square numbers, and hence the concept of exponential growth and the algebraic notation of n squared. The illustrations of the formation of the fireflies provide a fantastic visualisation of this mathematical concept. As far as we are aware, this story is the only story in the market with a focus of such concept. For younger children, the story can be used to consolidate their understanding of multiplication. All in all, we highly recommend ‘My Full Moon is Square’ to teachers and parents of both primary and secondary pupils alike though beware that the number of printed copies of the book in the market is getting smaller by the day, so snap one up soon!
Recommended age range:
9+ years old
Relevant topics:
Multiplication; Powers & Exponential Growth
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
